Kansas City shortstop Alcides Escobar singled off Cleveland closer Chris Perez to score Eric Hosmer in the bottom of the eleventh inning lifting the Royals over the Indians, 7-6. The win completed a series sweep for Kansas City and left the Indians with their sixth-straight loss.
Right-handed rookie Corey Kluber made his first major league start after being called up to replace Derek Lowe on Cleveland's pitching staff. Things started out rocky for Kluber to say the least as the Royals greeted him in the first inning with two home runs, a triple and three singles to score six runs in the bottom of the first.
Kluber gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, Alex Gordon and then Hosmer added a three-run blast later in the inning, appearing to bury Kluber and the Indians to start the game. Kluber was able to recover from the initial onslaught, though and hold the Royals scoreless for the next three innings before Tony Sipp relieved him with one out in the fifth inning.
The Tribe bullpen kept the Royals' offense in check, allowing the Cleveland offense to eventually rally and send the game to extra innings. Carlos Santana led the way with a two-run single as part of a three-run third inning which chased Kansas City starter Bruce Chen from the game. Santana also smacked a two-run homer in the fifth inning to tie the game at 6-6.
The Tribe remain on the road when they open up a weekend series against the Detroit Tigers on Friday.
Read more on the Indians at Let's Go Tribe and SB Nation Cleveland. Head over to Royals Review and SB Nation Kansas City for more on the Royals. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.